The purpose of this guideline is to maximise the safety of patients who need radiotherapy and make the best use of NHS resources, while protecting staff from infection. It will also enable services to match the capacity for radiotherapy to patient needs if services become limited because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This guidance was first published on 28 March 2020.
NICE has also produced a COVID-19 rapid guideline on delivery of systemic anticancer treatments.
This guideline is for:
- health and care practitioners
- health and care staff involved in planning and delivering services
- commissioners
The recommendations bring together
- existing national and international guidance and policies
- advice from specialists working in the NHS from across the UK. These include people with expertise and experience of treating patients for the specific health conditions covered by the guidance during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
NICE has developed these recommendations in direct response to the rapidly evolving situation and so could not follow the standard process for guidance development. The guideline has been developed using the interim process and methods for developing rapid guidelines on COVID-19. The recommendations are based on evidence and expert opinion and have been verified as far as possible. We will review and update the recommendations as the knowledge base and expert experience develops.
You can read the full guidance here